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Saturday, August 11, 2007

Another story to recommend

This time the story is from this month's Clarkesworld. "The Beacon" by Darja Malcolm-Clarke is great fun, very much something that's far outside reality, a society of insect-like creatures beneath a poisonous sun. Gender differences are big, with the females dominant...and because of that, Malcolm-Clarke flips the usage of wife and husband so the wives are the drastically weaker--and blind--males who stay home and care for the eggs, and husbands are the seeing females who control society. But...the wives know more about certain things than the main character ever guessed as she seeks a cure for the sun-poison that's in her blood and the milk she gives her young.

I've heard some people say that the term New Weird in certain uses seems to be transforming into Bugs & drugs as a counterpoint to Swords & sorcery--and if so, this certainly fits the bugs part of that equation. And it does seem to have a certain feeling to it that would make me place it near some of the New Weird works that I've read. Or maybe it's just far-out fantasy. Whatever it is, I like it.

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Brief Bio

I'm a speculative fiction writer and stay-at-home dad. I've had a number of stories and poems published over the past few years in a variety of venues. Prior to moving here and staying at home with my kids, I worked in experiential education (high ropes courses, teambuilding, climbing walls) and more traditional education as well as freelance writing.